Republican Senator Mitch McConnell has proposed a drastic solution to the administration’s insistence that the debt ceiling be raised against the wishes of many lawmakers, by handing over the power of the purse, an authority clearly invested in Congress according to the US Constitution, to Barack Obama’s White House.

“Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) floated a novel way out of default Tuesday, suggesting that Congress give up its power to raise the debt ceiling, and instead effectively transfer that authority — and the political pain that comes with it — to the White House for the remainder of Obama’s current term,” reports the Huffington Post.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he will seriously consider the proposal.

The US Constitution clearly states that Congress has the exclusive authority to raise and spend money. Article I section 8 states, “The Congress shall have Power….to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States,” and to “borrow Money on the credit of the United States.” This authority is commonly referred to as the “power of the purse”.